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Helsinki, Finland - August 27-30

(Bill)
We took another 1 hour discount plane ride from Stockholm to Helsinki, Finland. Helsinki is a small city with a much different feel than I had expected. I had expected more of a Russian influence in both architecture and people, but didn’t find much of that anywhere. The younger people are definitely more on the grunge, punk rock side with lots of colored hair, fishnet stockings, leather, and piercings. The architecture is a mix of old and new. The old appearing to be maybe from the early 1900’s and the new being extremely new, signs of the recent strong economy thanks to Helsinki being a technology hub for Europe. There seems to be a lack of historical monuments and museums compared to other cities we have visited. Not really sure why this is.

The weather has turned cold again with highs in the 60’s during the day and lots of rain.

On our first full day in the city we walked to a few churches – one orthodox church from the early 1900’s and one church built into the rocks in the middle of the city from the 1960’s. They were both listed in our guidebooks and the visitors handout as “can’t miss” locations. My opinion – no need to rush to Helsinki to visit these two monuments. Maybe the most interesting thing we saw were two weddings at each church. They were both very small and subdued compared to what we are used to in the US.

The walk back to our hotel was great, next to the harbor, across a huge beautiful promenade, down streets filled with great restaurants, boutiques, and art galleries. It showed me that the city has something to offer tourists beyond its proximity to Russia.

That night we went to a traditional Finnish restaurant. I was determined to try something local so when I saw the reindeer steak I was sold. The steak was great, very sweet and tender but a bit stringy. I had expected it to be gamey but it wasn’t at all.

After dinner we went to a club with an ice bar, something Victoria and I both wanted to experience. The ice bar was nothing more than a huge freezer with see through walls looking out into the club and room for about 12 people. Despite the size, it turned out to be a lot of fun. Before you enter you have to put on a thick, Eskimo looking coat and gloves. Victoria had to change her heels into moon boots. How fashionable! When you go in you understand why. It is about 10 degrees inside and with a shaved head I was freezing. We had a lot of fun inside the ice bar drinking Finnish vodka (Finlandia) and chatting with a group of Finnish guys and a few tourists. At one point Victoria had met a group of CPA’s working for KPMG in Bermuda and pawned them off on me. BORING! Gee, thanks Victoria.

Bill and Victoria’s Russian Visa Fun – Stage 2:
So, it’s not over. Not even close. Decide that you still want to go to Russia because for some reason you just want to and you are committed at this point, find the Russian consulate in Helsinki, Finland, walk there early on Monday morning before it opens with all of the aforementioned visa application forms and accompanying exhibits, see long line already formed while approaching the area where you think the consulate may be, finally reach non-descript, dark Russian consulate and realize the long line is there waiting for you to join, wait outside of consulate in the uniform line for the consulate to open, once the consulate opens watch the line turn into a mob with people who speak Russian jockeying to the front and people who don’t, ummmm us, trying to figure out what is going on, wait, wait, wait while people who press the intercom button and talk to the guard in Russian are let in, wait, wait, wait while other people cut in line and a guy who obviously had taken way too many steroids and spoke only English tried to cut in line and almost got the whole mob to turn against him, wait, wait, wait while the steroid guy talks loudly about his next fight in the UFC, laugh hysterically in your head, wait, wait, wait until you are in the front of the line and the stoic Russian guard says something in Russian through the loudspeaker and opens the electric gate, go in because you just assume you should, what do you have to lose, have the guard come out and tell you, in Russian of course, to go back and wait in line but think he may just take you away to Russia forever for no reason, wait, wait, wait until finally you are let inside the consulate, enter the consulate, have the metal detector go off but notice that nobody cares, notice that there is no funky, circa 1960’s electric number machine thing, notice also that there is no visa interview rooms with smoky glass doors and images of people behind them, try to find something written in English, find a line that says “visa” in English, wait in the line, get to the front of the line and meet with the visa application girl, this time she is not scary, have her review your application and send it to the Diplomat for his stamp of approval, wait, wait, wait for them to call your name, they call your name, be nervous, go meet at window with the un-scary application girl, find out application visa approved, have the application girl tell you to shell out an arm and a leg to get it done the same day, smile, breathe, say fine, have the application girl tell you to go pay at any bank and come back to pick up your visa and passport, leave the consulate and set off the metal detector again, have nobody care, go to the nearest bank, have the nearest bank tell you they only take cash, wonder to yourself if you could just give them your arm and your leg as payment, laugh inside your head, say lots of things to yourself that shouldn’t be repeated, have the bank tell you that a cash machine is right down the street, breathe a sigh of relief, thank the bank profusely, go to the cash machine, insert your ATM card, have the machine tell you it is not receiving foreign cards, say lots of things to yourself that shouldn’t be repeated, walk a mile to the next nearest cash machine, insert your ATM card, insert pin, take out an arm and a leg, think to yourself that the machines should actually have “arm and leg” as an option, laugh to yourself, go back to bank and pay, stop for a caffe latte, take the bank receipt to the Russian consulate, try to cut in line because you think you know what you are doing, have the rest of the line yell at you in Russian, put your American tail between your legs and go to the back of line, wait, wait, have a new stoic guard let you into the consulate with minutes to spare, get your visa and passport from the un-scary visa girl, have her tell you to “have a nice trip to Russia”, think to yourself that her comment is kind of funny considering what you have been through, think to yourself that you have somehow accomplished or won something, smile and thank the un-scary visa lady profusely, leave the consulate and set off the metal detector again, have nobody care, breathe!

(Victoria)
The step-sister of Scandinavia is how Finland is often regarded. In fact, we were told multiple times in Copenhagen and Norway, as if they needed to clarify: “Finland, well is different.” It is on the Euro, unlike its neighbors. It is flat and without the beautiful skiing mountains of the others. And it is the only one whose language is not understood within each country. Yet, it feels as if poor Finland has gotten a bum rap.

Helsinki is a small city that possesses a quiet charm. It is a city surrounded by water where wharfs, sailboats, and marchinery sit together. It has ornate 19th century buildings alongside sleek glass modern structures (somehow it avoided the tackiness of 1970s architecture). Winding cobbled streets to get lost in and yet a sense of city planning. Tree lined avenues, Parisian-style promenades, parks, cafes, and multiple squares that are filled with pink-haired punk youth. Hip minimal designer restaurants paired with traditional fare: reindeer, pigs knuckle, perch, smoked herring. For the record, I tried a tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, miniscule, tiny, tiny piece of reindeer. No, I’m not ordering a steak next but I was curious.

The Ice Bar was hilarious! The very first thing we noticed was that the Finnish have no rhythm. I don’t mean a few people were bad dancers or the guys were a bit shy about dancing. I mean the dance floor was packed, the songs playing had a clear beat, and absolutely everyone was off – men and even women...it was as if their hips had been programmed differently. There was the token guy with an enthusiastic arm flailing raindance routine, but most people just plain could not dance. Bill said he felt like John Travolta all of a sudden.

Once we tired of people watching in the night club, we headed to the Ice Bar. Bill and I had to wait in line to get into this freezer-size establishment. We had to adorn fuzzy full length coats, gloves, and I got the additional moon boots. It all made for a great conversation piece and we immediately met lots of folks who wanted to chat – although it may have been the complimentary “grapefruit” drink we were handed. We did meet a group of friendly Finnish and had a great time chatting. They were very concerned about our opinion of Finland and were stunned to know we came there on purpose. From them we learned that the Finns are required to learn both Finnish and Swedish in elementary school and that all street signs are in both languages. They also then learn a third of their choice – usually English – when in high school. We made our way home around 4 am laughing about our experiences.

(Oddities or Things We Noticed)
Greeting: ”Hey, hey.”

The Finnish are friendly, but a bit subdued. As everyone threw rice at the newly married couples there was the occasional whispered “yeah”, but no enthusiastic cheering or clapping – except for the boisterous Spanish tourist who also seemed to notice the lack of hurrahs.

People speak very quietly here. I constantly felt as if my voice was booming, but then Bill was continually saying, “Huh, I can’t hear you.”

Small wine pours that are measured precisely with a wine measurer. Had to order “doubles” for an American style pour.

Much less expensive here.

Finnish sounds really different from any language I’ve ever heard. It is less harsh than Norwegian, but not quite Latin sounding. We could not make any connection to any familiar Latin-based words. Even wine was unrecognizable and we can usually decipher that one!

Stockholm, Sweden - August 21-27

(Victoria)
Stockholm is a bustling, diverse city, both of which immediately stood out to us after having been in the much more sedate and border stringent and less liberal Norway. It felt a little strange as we have not been in any thing this large or crowded in weeks.

Stockholm is a lovely city that traverses over bridges and between thousands of islands…some even claim over 20,000 make up the archipelago that eventually crumbles into the Baltic. It is hard to get a true sense of this city in just a few days as each area has its own distinct personality. In fact, within mere blocks the personality of the area seems to change. We spent most of our time on the peninsula of Skeppsholmen where the park-like atmosphere houses several museums and overlooks the marina; Gamla Stan or Old Town which is now filled with hip stores and restaurants; and the lush island Djurgarden which is home to Skansen, a huge open-air museum with a fabulous little zoo. And, we spent one day walking the entire city.

One of the highlights was definitely Skansen. I got to touch a reindeer's antlers (fuzzy) and a baby reindeer licked my fingers!!! I have mixed feelings about zoos, but there were tons of baby animals so I took that as a healthy sign. The baby reindeer walked right up to me and let me touch his downy fur. He was adorable. We also got to witness the feeding time and saw brown bear with three cubs, lynx with kittens, and even moose, much closer than when we saw them in the wild in Norway. It was a really fun way to spend a drizzly day.

(Bill)
We took a plane from Bergen to Oslo (1 hour) and from Oslo to Stockholm, Sweden (1 hour) - two more of our cheap airline finds within Scandinavia. Stockholm is a huge city built completely on islands. There are literally more than 10,000 islands that make up Stockholm. The city was definitely the largest and most diverse we have been through since leaving New York City in early July. For me it was kind of strange to be thrown back in the middle of a busy city after having spent many weeks in relative seclusion in Norway. But in a way, it was nice to feel the energy of a real cosmopolitan city again. I wouldn't say Stockholm was the cleanest city we have been through and there is definitely a noticeable pollution price being paid by the environment to keep all of the people moving from island to island throughout the city.

The weather was noticeably warmer in Stockholm compared to Norway and Denmark with highs in the mid-70's and a little rain.

On our first full day in the city we took a wonderful 5 mile self guided walking tour from island to island through many of the main parts of Stockholm. From the city center of Kungstradgarden with men playing chess on life size chess boards next to a large, sunken public meeting square, through the long, touristy outdoor shopping mall, along the water and over a bridge to Stadshuset and the large church-like town hall, back over a bridge to Gamla Stan, the oldest part of the city with tight, stone laid streets lined with shops, galleries, and cafes, over a bridge and past the impressive royal palace, over another bridge and another bridge to Skeppsholmen dotted with museums and parks, back over many bridges to the hip, young area of Sodermalm where we stayed.

On another day we took a ferry 15 minutes to the island of Djurgarden. The island has a large, Coney Island style amusement park, which we avoided like the plague, and many museums and parks. We went to Skansen, a huge outdoor park filled with traditional Swedish homes and buildings and an impressive zoo. The zoo was extremely interesting as it housed some animals we aren’t accustomed to seeing in zoos - moose, elk, reindeer, and wolves to name a few.

Bill and Victoria's Russian Visa Fun - Stage 1:
So, this was an experience that I will NEVER forget. First, decide you want to go to Russia because you are going to be in Helsinki, which is mere hours from St. Petersburg and you think how easy it will be to get there, look in the guidebook and realize you need a visa but assume that will be an easy enough process (why would any country make it difficult for us to visit), book a hotel in Russia, prepay for the hotel in Russia, do more research on the visa process and realize it may be a bit more involved than you first thought, print out the Russian visa application for US citizens from the Russian consulate website, call the hotel in Russia and get an invitation and voucher faxed to your hotel as the visa application requires, have the hotel tell you they will fax an invitation and voucher application to your hotel, wait for fax, wait for fax, call the Russian hotel because the fax doesn't come, have the hotel email it to you instead, wait for email, wait for email, get email, print out invitation/voucher application, fax completed application to Russian hotel, go have passport photos taken to accompany visa application while waiting for Russian hotel to send official invitation and voucher, spend lots of time filling out the Russian visa application, spend lots of time making copies of all of the forms, find out where the Russian consulate is, take a bus to the consulate, be very proud of yourself for pulling all of this together, get to the non-descript Russian consulate, find out the Russian consulate is only open 9-12 Monday through Friday, look at your watch, realize it’s 3pm on Thursday and you are leaving for Russia on Tuesday, say lots of things that shouldn’t be repeated, get back on the bus, go back to hotel, have a glass of wine, breath, go back to the Russian consulate the next day, this time early in the morning, have the scary Russian guard buzz you in to enter the consulate building, take a number from the funky circa 1960’s electric number machine thing, wait in old stale waiting room with 20 other people, be nervous, very nervous because you think the Russians are going to take you away forever for no reason, notice that the three visa interview rooms with smoky glass doors and images of people behind them remind you of an old police interrogation chamber, wait, wait, wait for one of the scary interview rooms to buzz with your number over the entrance, go into the visa interview room, close the smoky glass door behind you, become one of those images behind the doors, look at the scary visa application lady behind the bullet proof window who you think may call the scary Russian guard over to take you away forever for no reason, be told by the application lady that the form you downloaded from their site and spent hours filling out is the wrong form, say lots of things to yourself that shouldn’t be repeated, be given a new form by the visa application lady, go outside and fill out the new forms, go back inside without waiting and get good vibes from application lady, think to yourself that this may actually work, have the application lady look at your departure date and tell you that Stockholm doesn't do express visas which you need because you are leaving for Russia in five days and have already paid for your hotel, say lots of things to yourself that shouldn't be repeated, start to feel blood boil, go home with tail between your legs, pout, pout, pout to your wife, ponder Russian trip, receive email from Russian consulate in Helsinki, Finland indicating that they do same day visas, decide not to give up and rather put yourself through more visa fun! Oh, don't think we would stop here. We're committed and determined. They can't keep us out. To be continued...see Helsinki, Finland for Stage 2.

(Oddities or Things We Noticed)
Greeting: "Hey"

Swedish sounds much softer, more Latin-based even though Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish are all pretty much the same.

Apel = Orange; Epel = Apple.

Coffee by George, Coffee by RCoffee, Coffee by Wayne...Coffee by just about everyone.

Frapino = I was once again able to get my blended iced coffee sans ice; it was more a cold foamy coffee, but my addiction can be met.

Very hip fashion here - like L.A.

Ah, fresh salad!!! An avocado, a real avocado!

Computer Problems (Ugh!)

Somewhere between Finland and Russia my laptop decided to die. Thus, it is making it much more difficult for us to create and update our blog. Hopefully we will have the laptop back up soon or will have a replacement. For now the updates are going to be a bit more sporadic.

Right now we are in Reggio Emilia, Italy, about an hour and a half southwest of Milan. We arrived by plane into Milan from Scandinavia on September 4. We have rented a small car and plan to drive from the top (Milan) to the bottom (Sicily) over the next month. We are really enjoying the culture, food, wine (much cheaper than Scandinavia), architecture, history, hospitality, and simple way of life that Italy has to offer. We are also enjoying the freedom that a car is providing us.

Bergen, Norway - August 16-21

(Victoria)
City Apartments: I can do rugged. I can do sparse…barren…even uncomfortable. I cannot do unclean. Our three days in this accommodation were spent trying to avoid returning there. We had no alternative – literally the entire city was booked. Call me a wimp – and I know compared to what some of you have endured (Summer in Africa) –
this was nothing, but I just cannot handle unsanitary. I imagine fleas, ticks, and bedbugs, the gargoyle-faced-type from bug repellent commercials, laughing and cheering as they prepare to feast on my unsuspecting limbs. Germs must leap up at me from crevasses unseen by the naked eye. Knowing we had “No Options,” I was ready to buck up and did not want this to ruin my time in Bergen. Once the room was cleaned, which it had not been when we arrived, I was certain it would transform. The room only slightly improved, but what could we do. There was no use dwelling on it. We would simply avoid touching the walls and would wear our flip-flops at all times. I could handle this. That was until I spotted a UGO (Unidentifiable Gross Object) on my “clean” towel. I had just taken a nice long steamy shower, feeling ready to embrace my day, when as I was drying off I noticed something…something foreign. I quickly put my glasses on for a close inspection. I nearly threw up. This UGO did not belong to me – oh no, it was dried and crusty and as I sniffed the towel I realized I should have known sooner – this was contaminated. I didn’t know what to do. The Romanians were waiting outside to get in (there was only one bathroom for six people) and I had nothing with me but this disgusting towel. I wrapped it around me and ran to my room to find my travel towels that were still in their packaging as this experience was a first. I was certain I had just contracted Crabs – Bill tried not to laugh as I told him this, seeing I was close to tears. I couldn’t simply dress after this pollution. I quickly re-showered (I think I cut in front of the Romanians waiting to pee), taking extra care to scrub every section the towel may have touched. The count down to the spa began.

I did not sleep well while at City Apartments, trying to avoid touching the UGOs on the walls (I’m not completely germaphobic, so no, it was not in my head and yes, they were foul). However, the Romanians made it pleasant when were there. We shared our three bedroom/one bath apartment with four other people = six of us in total. The four forty-something men were musicians from Romania spending three weeks in Bergen for the cities summer opera festival. They were very proud and talented – and very hospitable to us. We had already intended on going to the outdoor festival which alternated nights between the operas Aida and Chess. As Aida was sold out, we opted for Chess. The Romanians were thrilled to hear this. They even offered to sneak us in if it was sold out again – I was going to hold an empty violin case and walk through the stage entrance, which I found rather exciting, however, it turned out tickets were available. I was really enthused as I remember when Chess came out in the 1980s – a modern rock opera. One thing Bergen should consider when having a “Summer Opera” dedicated to the outdoors – it is freezing!!! It was a lucky thing we knew the Romanians as we were forewarned and I was literally wearing a snowboarding thermal shirt, two wool sweaters – pull over and cardigan, a pashmina scarf, a rain jacket, wool tights, Hot Chili’s snowboarding socks, jeans, and a newly purchased wool hat with ear flaps. I was nice and toasty as we sipped our wine and sang along, “Bangkok, Oriental city…” The music for Chess was great – there was a philharmonic (including the Romanians), a rock band, and the singers. No stage direction, actors, set, etc. This was only the music…and the music was fabulous – especially after we learned they only practiced twice/four hours. The singing, well…they could have practiced a bit more. Oh well, the Romanians were great.

So aside from being traumatized, I really enjoyed Bergen. We window shopped down cobble stoned streets and found an old medieval market that now houses art galleries. We spent a day discovering the many little islands off the coast and took in some needed sun rays while on the ferry. And we mingled in bars alongside exuberant college students and reminisced about our college days feeling as though that were ions ago.

(Bill)
We took the Flam Railway back up to Myrdal to catch the remainder of the Oslo-Bergen line. From Myrdal we went approximately 2 hours west to Bergen, Norway. I’m sure the constant “beautiful” and “breathtaking” descriptions are getting old but I am being honest when I say that Norway is the most beautiful country I have ever seen – at least from a nature standpoint. And I feel as if I only scratched the surface.

Bergen is a young, lively university city on the west coast of Norway. The city is shaped like a “C’, curving around the bay with colorful house dotting the mountains behind and around the city. The architecture and setting reminded me a little of San Francisco, less the skyscrapers and traffic.

Fishing is obviously a large industry in Bergen as there is a large fish market in the middle of the city and numerous fishing boats lining the bay. Wandering around the fish market led to some interesting finds. We found a fish monger chuckling while gutting a huge fish obviously still alive by its feverish tail twitching – even after karate chopping its head off with his machete looking knife. I was shocked when we found an ice bin full of fresh Minke whale meat advertised with a cute smiling whale drawn on the price sign (Victoria loved that). In addition, we encountered reindeer, moose, elk, and whale sausage, full fox skins complete with heads, and dried fox legs which I was told were “for the doggies.” I tried samples of all of the sausages and they were quite good. I was a bit embarrassed though when I turned to the whale sausage sample lady and said with a puzzled look on my face – “It’s good but it doesn’t taste like fish?” She looked at me trying not to laugh and said, “It’s a mammal”. Right! Idiot!

It turns out Bergen is a very popular tourist destination. We found this out the hard way when we arrived to check into our “apartment style hotel” and had immediate flashbacks to our Athens hostel. I almost had convulsions. Kidding. Now feeling confident that we were pro travelers, we immediately marched to the tourist center to straighten this out and find somewhere else to stay. We were both dumbfounded when we were told the entire city was booked. We knew we could tough it out and were determined to enjoy the city regardless of City Apartments.

On the positive side we shared our apartment with four professional musicians from Romania. They were in Bergen to play in the symphony for the operas Aida and Chess. We woke up late one morning to one of them playing jazz on the violin in the common area. It was pretty cool. We also ended up going to see Chess one night in an open air theatre. The music turned out to be good but the singing reminded me of a mediocre high-school play. For the record, I had no idea what Chess was until Victoria told me it was responsible for the song “One Night In Bangkok”. A little before my time, but I remember my sister loved the song. I think it’s still stuck in my head.

After three days slummin’ it in Bergen with the Romanian musicians we decided to treat ourselves to a little R&R, Polo sheet style (Chad, you would have loved it). We found a beautiful hotel an hour south of Bergen by bus in the small fjord-side town of Os (pronounced “ooooooose”). Solstrand Hotel and Spa (www.solstrand.com) is located on the Fussafjorden and is reasonable yet amazing. All of the rooms overlooked the fjord and were awesome. We enjoyed a massage, a spa overlooking the fjord, a sauna, great food, mediocre wine from the Vin Monopoly (or vin-rip-off as I like to call it now), and two days filled with nothing but relaxation – our recovery from City Apartments.

Oddities or Things We Noticed

(Bill and Victoria)
The hot dogs are getting more and more elaborate as we go. In Bergen they had bacon and cheese, and garlic filled, pepper, Mexican, Spanish, and Italian flavored, reindeer, elk, and pork.

A lot more blondes again, a lot more attention to fashion again, and a LOT of bad bronzing powder.

Galloshes can be hip – we saw many students wearing these with tucked in jeans…practical and fashionable.

White blazers are the rage for men and women – some even went as far as to pop the collar. Oh no, Miami Vice fashion is already rearing its ugly head.

I’m craving greens – not a lot of options in the way of salads. Potatoes are plentiful, sausages galore, and smoked anything…but I need a green bean.

Flam, Norway - August 13-16

(Bill)
In Geilo, Norway we boarded the Oslo-Bergen train again and traveled two hours northwest to Myrdal, Norway. Besides making you feel like you are standing on the top of the world, Myrdal is the staging point for the scenic Flam Railway (Flamsbana). The Flam Railway was built in the 1940’s to connect the Aurlandsfjord as a supply line to Bergen and Oslo. The railway starts in Myrdal, 2,700 feet above sea level, and snakes down the sheer cliffs to the fjord-side town of Flam. The journey takes about one hour and is filled with unspoiled beauty around every hairpin corner, waterfalls jetting out of the cliffs, sleepy villages, and roaring rivers.

The town of Flam, where we stayed, is beautiful but is definitely built for tourism. Behind the town are the sheer cliffs and waterfalls the Flam Railway descends and in front of the town is the Aurlandsfjord. The scenery is breathtaking, but the town has little to offer from a cultural standpoint. The town consists of a train station, ship dock, three cafeterias, a market, a post office, a few tourist stores, and three hotels. The train station and ship dock keep the town afloat during the summer, pouring new tourists through the area on a daily basis. Most of the people living or working there are from other parts of the world working on exchange for the summer. Don’t get me wrong, we enjoyed the natural beauty of the area and used Flam as a jump off spot to explore the surrounding areas.

We stayed at the Furukroa Hotel (www.furukroa.no) which is located at the head of the town overlooking the fjord. Our room on the first night was on the side of the hotel with a relatively good view of the town and the fjord. On the second and third night we had to move rooms but were upgraded to the junior suite (I scored it for the same price with my overly flattering email when we booked). This room was on the front of the hotel and had a completely unobstructed view of the fjord, which made the long quiet nights extremely easy to revel in the scenery. That is UNTIL…I woke up the morning after moving, took my book outside to enjoy the beautiful view, opened the door to the deck, and there it was…a HUGE, annoying white cruise ship. So, we now had an unobstructed view of the cruise ship. Damn those cruise ships. Luckily the ship left that evening and we got our view back.

While in Flam we took a few great hikes. On our first day we hiked six miles around the fjord to the town of Aurland. Unfortunately it was Sunday so mostly everything in the small town was closed but *somehow* we found a hotel with a deck and a view of the fjord and we decided to relax in the sun, beer and wine in hand. We took the ferry back to Flam – may have been the drinks??? On our second day we hiked a few miles into the mountains, back towards Myrdal, along the Flam Railway to the Brekkefossen waterfall. The hike was relatively easy in the beginning until we hit the mountain path and it began to rain. From there we hiked straight uphill on a dirt/muddy/rocky trail towards the waterfall. When we got to the top it was all worth it. The waterfall was about 1,000 feet tall surrounded by mossy rocks and grassy hills. We sat in the grass at the base of the waterfall, the sky opening up to rain on and off, and enjoyed the waterfall and cliffs above us, the river valley below us, and Flam and the fjord in front of us. One of the nice things about both of these hikes was that we hardly saw a soul on either of them.

(Victoria)
The Flam railroad is gorgeous. It took twenty years to build and I can see why as it cuts through rocky mountain and navigates over sheer drops, passing some 60 plunging waterfalls. The railway stops at the largest waterfall to let visitors out for pictures with the warning to watch out for mythical women that beckon you to them. I think the myth started with the railway men having had too much Hansa beer, too many lonely nights, and the waterfall mist started to get to them. Anyway, sure enough over the roaring waterfall a soft sound emerged – kind of Celtic – along with a woman in red who performed a slow new agey dance. I hope they pay her well because she must freeze in that skimpy red outfit in the middle of a waterfall…I was and I had on a sweater.

Flam, as Bill said, was very touristy, but most tourists do not stay the night and come either via ferry, cruise ship or railway. From 5 pm to 11 am it is silent…unbelievably silent. Maybe that is why when the cruise ship unloaded its 5,000 passengers into this tiny town it had a locust-like feeling about it. One thing I did not understand was why so many got off a huge ship that famously provides masses of free meals to buy bad pizza for $50!!! My options for days were boiled salmon, pizza, boiled salmon, a hot dog bun, and boiled salmon – I was ready to sneak on the ship for some vegetables.

We found a great little restaurant/hotel on the other side of the fjord that had an unbelievable view of the sun setting over the mountains and a waterfall in the distance. The sun did not set until about 11pm and we sat in the dusky light watching the twinkling reflections on the still water and talking for hours into the evening. And we did the same in the morning. I love the hours here – wake up nice and slowly, roll out of bed for coffee on the balcony around 9 or 10 with no rush to go anywhere because nothing opens until 11. We first noticed this in Oslo when we arrived at around 9 am to silence – in a capital city!?! The only bad part is the carpet rolls up early too – we always seem to be the last people in every restaurant.

The hike to the waterfall was amazing…great bum workout, too. There is some sort of soft, spongy moss that grows here. It makes the perfect cushion to sit on after a great hike. What a wonderful area to toss around ideas. It was so green at the top and we could see for miles. There is something story bookish about waterfalls and thick patches of green – maybe this is where the troll thing comes from – I started picturing nice little fairies though not mean-spirited trolls as they seem depicted here.

Oddities or Things We Noticed

(Bill and Victoria)
Greeting: “Hi hi.” Followed by something that resembles the language Theresa and I made up as children.

These countries use WAY too many coins as currency. Most of the time my pockets are sagging from the accumulation and Victoria says she can always tell when I am coming because she can hear me jingle from a mile away. This may be more due to all the different currencies in Scandinavia and my not knowing one from the other so opting to just give a large bill to the cashier so as to not have to think about it??? (Bill)

Restaurants provide lovely thick blankets to its customers sitting outside in the crisp air – what a great idea! They have heat lamps too, but they obviously do not cut it in the winter. (Victoria)

Norwegians folk dance and sing traditional songs at birthday parties.

Tourist boards – wow, Norwegians know how to market their area. I am a mass picker-upper of free brochures. I had a field day here…and these ones were really useful with hike directions, so I didn’t have any tree-killing guilt. (Victoria)

More statues of trolls.

Norway is obviously pro-hunting. On our way back from our hike to Brekkefossen waterfall we were passing by a house and a man was walking straight at us to his truck, shotgun in one hand, camouflage hunting jacket in the other. Later that evening Victoria heard three gun shots in the mountains. Reindeer for dinner I’m sure.

Along those lines, all of the shopping stores in Flam had piles of reindeer skin rugs for about $75. They were beautiful but we couldn’t bring ourselves to buy one for Mammoth. We actually looked into it but the shipping was a killer. I think my Mom and Victoria are much happier that I didn’t find a way to get one.

I’m starting to feel a bit malnourished – fruit is plentiful, but not much in the greens department. I’d be fine if I were not vegetarian. (Victoria)

This is just for documentation purposes so that we can look back and reflect on it at some point in the future. We find ourselves lightly talking about where we will end up settling down after this journey. Besides the normal cities that we are always mentioning (San Francisco, Seattle, etc.) a few new ones have popped up in conversation – Hawaii and Boulder, Colorado to name a few. This may be due to the areas we were traveling through. For example, we talked about Hawaii in the Greek Islands and now Boulder in outdoorsy Norway. Who knows where we will actually put our feet down.

The Ceremonious Shave

So, I know it's a bit dated but I thought it was worth providing some documentation on the earth shattering, plate moving, axis shifting event known as "the shaving of my (Bill's) head". The barber taught Victoria how to shave and fade and we have since bought a shaver and I am, rest assured, receiving heavily discounted "high and tight" head shaves on a regular basis.

Preface - Most of you know how anal I was about my hair so you must understand how hard this was for me...

Location - New York, New York - USA; random barber shop in Manhattan.

Date - July 3, 2005.

Witnesses - Random barber, Victoria, and peanut gallery who got a kick out of the whole situation.

Cost - $10 plus $5 thank you for not making me look too much like Bozo tip.

Geilo, Norway - August 8-13

(Bill)

From Oslo we took a train four hours northwest to Geilo (pronounced Y-eye-low), Norway. Geilo is mid-way between Oslo and Bergen on the famous Oslo-Bergen Railway. The train route is famous for its beautiful landscape – forests, national parks, hills, valleys, meadows, lakes, fjords, rivers, glaciers, wildflowers, and waterfalls. It did not disappoint. At one point Victoria and I were staring out of the window enjoying a wildflower covered meadow when two horses ran next to and with the train, manes billowing. I said it was like “Bonanza”, Victoria felt it was more like a fairytale.

Geilo is a small, quaint mountain town known for its active, outdoor lifestyle and quiet, family atmosphere. It reminded us of Mammoth, California, less 9,000 feet of altitude, with its A-framed cabins, relaxed atmosphere, and homey restaurants, of which there were four. The town is nestled in a lake valley between two pine and silver dollar tree (Aspens) covered hills, both with small ski resorts. Victoria and I were looking forward to getting away from cities and museums for a while so Geilo was a great way for us to relax and enjoy nature – something we always look forward to.

On our first full day in Geilo we rented mountain bikes and rode around the lake that covers much of the valley floor. The trail took us passed seemingly deserted farms, a few families fishing, trickling creeks, bustling rivers, and grazing and baaaahing sheep. Towards the end of the 5 mile ride we found an empty golf driving range tucked against the lake. There were some ancient practice clubs calling our names so we made ourselves comfortable, rounded up some balls from out in the range and helped ourselves to a few practice swings. The first thing I noticed when we stood on the practice mats was the beautiful green hilly backdrop into which we were hitting – again reminded me very much of Mammoth (actually Bishop Country Club). Although the swings were admittedly pathetic, the setting was memorable.

On our second full day in Geilo we decided to check one of the boxes off of our trip wish list and went white water rafting. Not the sissy, tour guide, scenic, hot dog and potato salad picnic rafting trip. This was a serious category 4 out of 5 rafting excursion and something I will never forget. The company we went with was called Serious Fun – a bit hokey but looking back it is the perfect description for the day.

We boarded a rickety old bus in the town and drove 15 miles up into the mountains to the town of Dagali (pronounced dog-a-lee by some and da-ga-lee by others). There were about 25 or so other tourists, mostly from Europe with a Japanese bunch to round out the melting pot, with us on the trip. When we reached the town we stripped down wherever we could find a spot, slipped into wet, cold wetsuits and wet, cold booties, grabbed a helmet and a life vest and set off on another short bus ride with our rafts in tow to the starting point. After a short, funny, yet serious safety discussion, which would come in handy later, we were split into groups of seven including one guide. Splitting us up reminded me of the kickball selection process at lunch in elementary school – you were just hoping, hoping, hoping not to get stuck on the sucky team. Victoria and I were paired with a 6’5” 300 pounder built like a tree and his “stable” wife from Holland, two spry looking older Norwegian ladies, and a young male Norwegian guide. Initially we were pumped as we looked at the remaining pool and thought how things could have ended up.

And so we were off. Unfortunately by the first set of easy, starter rapids Victoria and I found out that our initial thoughts about our team were dead wrong. The guy from Holland who was built like a bear and was supposed to be our ace wanted to talk and make jokes more than paddle. He was worthless. His wife actually turned out to be relatively strong but froze up after she went over the boat and ripped the bottom out of her wetsuit. And the two spry looking senior ladies turned out to be pretty marginal as well, paddling as if they were going to hurt the water. (Mom – Don’t get upset. These weren’t the 58 going on 30 year old types like you. I know you would have made me proud out there). And then there was our “expert guide”…who, besides falling out of the raft on three out of four sets of crazy waterfall rapids, scared the lights out of us when he was asking the lead rafting guy how to navigate the first section. Anyway, one thing I learned is that Victoria may only weigh 100 pounds but she can paddle like a steam engine. She was by far the star paddler and together we picked up the slack for the other five – I hope they enjoyed the scenery. This is all self-proclaimed I know, but that is one of the benefits to writing your own journal. Oh, and I fell out of the raft along with the guide on one of the rapid sections, opting to go over the falls and boulders with my thigh and butt instead of in the raft. I’m still complaining about the deep bruise in my thigh and poor Victoria has to listen to it all the time. I’ll never forget looking up from falling off the raft to see the horror on Victoria’s face trying to reach out with her paddle to save me as she is going over the rapids in the raft – priceless!

Oddities or Things We Noticed

(Bill and Victoria)
Meatballs – Every country has their own meatballs. I’ve had Greek, Danish, and now Norwegian meatballs. All a little different, but all good.

Weather is still chilly, but only one day of rain. And the sun feels great when it comes out.

The water in the rivers in Norway is so clean you can drink right from the source. I was surprised when our “expert” rafting guide took a hand cup full and drank it, but when I tried it myself it was amazing. Cold, crisp, and clean. In one section of the rafting trip, where Victoria and I decided to take a swim, we were swimming with our mouths open drinking the water.

The ski areas around Geilo are much smaller and lower than we are used to in California. The two resorts in the town had 4 lifts each and the hills were no higher than 3,000 feet above sea level.

Norwegians are laid back, out for a good time, and athletic…Viking roots I guess.

Trolls: While we were moose hunting (watching, not shooting) our guide stopped and very seriously passed around “troll hair” – a cluster of thick, black, wiry hair. Apparently, according to the guide, they are very mean creatures.

Grass topped houses: Many of the houses in the area have roofs that are made of long, wild grass. Historically the purpose was for insulation, but now houses are built this way for tradition and decoration. We even saw a dog house with the grass roof just like the larger people version. They blended in with the hills and it was nice to look at a hill with houses and not even notice them.

Moose are enormous! And Moose sausage tastes kind of funny. No, Victoria did not partake.

Oslo, Norway - August 4-8

(Bill)

We found another ridiculously cheap flight from Copenhagen to Oslo, Norway – $50 each on Norwegian Airlines – and jumped on it. Our flight was at 7:30am, so if you know Victoria you know that making this flight would be an accomplishment in itself. We made it but with minutes to spare – literally. Our closest near miss yet.

We broke through the clouds on our descent into Oslo and Victoria and I both got a glimpse of the Norwegian landscape. Mountains covered with pine trees, meadows covered with wild flowers, and lakes and rivers everywhere. We literally turned to each other and could say nothing more than, “Wow!” After landing and noticing that even the airport was surrounded by pine tree covered hills we knew that we had definitely found our element in Norway – “We’re going to love this place” was what I remember saying to Victoria as the pilot welcomed us to Oslo in Norwegian.

Oslo is a small, clean city that sits on the Oslo Fjord and is surrounded by yes, more pine tree covered mountains. One thing that we thought was amazing was the number of public transportation options the small city had to offer. If the train didn’t suit, you could opt for the metro. If the train or metro didn’t work, you could try the bus. If you weren’t up for the train, metro, or bus, you could always take the tram. The lack of cars in the city made it obvious that most people take full advantage of the system, as we did.

On our first full day in Oslo we took the train into the mountainous “suburbs” (where most well off Oslonians live) to Holmenkollen. Holmenkollen is known most for being the location of the world’s first ski jump and the world’s only skiing museum. The area also provides a beautiful view of the city and the surrounding areas below. After browsing through the ski museum we took an elevator up about 10 stories and then climbed a steep set of stairs to the top of the ski jump. It was high, I mean we were up there, but I was quick to let Victoria know that I would definitely do the jump if I had the chance (tough guy). Luckily – for me – there was no snow and the landing area WAY DOWN THERE was filled with water. I’m still convinced I’d be the best ski jumper in the world -- if I was given the chance. Anyway, we enjoyed the ski jump area and on our walk back down to the train station we stopped at a restaurant overlooking the city and had a “refreshment” on the balcony. The sun was out with beautiful wispy clouds dotting the sky above the fjord. It was a great way to end the day.

At breakfast one morning we met a Norwegian journalist that couldn’t stop raving about the strength of the recent U.S. economic data and Alan Greenspan. When we did get him off of the U.S. economy his next topic of choice was Timothy McVeigh (sp?). Yes, random indeed. He thought it was so “tragic” that such a “handsome” boy would do something like that and what a “crime” it was that such a “handsome” boy wouldn’t be able to “pro-create”. Interesting opinion!

On our third full day in Oslo we took the metro to the Edvard Munch Museum within the city limits. Before going to the museum I knew pretty much nothing about Munch or his paintings. From the outside the museum was nothing to write home about, but I definitely enjoyed seeing his work laid out in one setting. My favorites were “Scream” and “Starry Nights”. I am now a Munch fan.


(Victoria: A Few Additions)
Well, I don’t have much to add because Bill did a great update. I learned that Oslo was once called Christiana, but was changed in 1905 when it won back its Independence from Sweden. This was very interesting for me because my great-great-grandfather was born in Christiana, Norway in 1831. I kept looking around for my doppelganger, but have yet to find her. I did notice that Norwegians seem to be friendly, jovial, and self assured people. We had many random conversations with people just ready to talk…and I was hit on by several inebriated Norwegians when we went to the piano bar. (Side note: apparently it is perfectly acceptable to be drunk on the weekends – in fact, it is expected. And at weddings and special occasions it is considered insulting to the host if you do not show drunkenness.)

We spent a day visiting the Viking Ship Museum and a stave church on an island just outside of Oslo. We saw two amazingly perfect Viking ships that had once sailed in the 800s and were used as burial tombs in the 900s AD. They were really amazing to see -- so beautifully carved, strongly constructed, and well preserved in the Norwegian hills/bogs. Both ships were much like the Egyptian pyramids and were filled with treasures for the person to take into the afterlife with them: cattle, horses, gold jewelry, chests of grain, tools, cloth, and more. The medieval stave church was also really amazing to see. There are only a few in the world that remain because they are constructed of wood. The one we saw looked as if it could have been carved yesterday, until we went inside and saw the old paintings on the walls – very medieval, very one dimensional, very amazing.

Lastly, I want to mention the Nobel Peace Museum. The Nobel Peace Prize is given in Oslo every year and they recently built a phenomenal museum dedicated to the pursuit of peace. It is an interactive experience filled with global quotes, film clips, audio clips, photos, and statements by former Peace Prize winners. It was so inspiring and I recommend it to anyone.

Oddities or Things We Noticed

(Bill and Victoria)
The days are getting longer up here. The sun starts to set around 5:00pm and doesn’t completely slip away until around 11:00pm. The 6 hour sunset definitely gives a guy a generous window to make a sunset dinner occur.

TGI Friday’s and 7-Eleven’s are everywhere in Oslo. Most of you probably know that Victoria and I met at a TGI Friday’s in Woodland Hills. I can testify that we didn’t touch one in Oslo – but only because I wasn’t going to pay $100 for lunch at TGI Friday’s.

Prices are astronomically high, for everything. A beer will set you back about $12…each. A normal (e.g. TGI Friday’s, city café, etc.) meal for two is now up to $75-$100.

The weather in Oslo, for the most part, was chilly and drizzling. We are now armed with two very cheap umbrellas. Victoria’s pink. Mine purple (nice).

Norwegians love American cars.

The “Wine Monopoly” (a leftover from prohibition days of long ago) means the sale of alcohol in Norway is still tightly controlled by the government. Consumers go to “Vinmonopoly” stores, a privately held, publicly controlled company, to get all of their alcohol. It is very expensive and we found the wine selection less than desired. Cheap bottle of wine costs $15. 6 pack of Heineken will set you back $25.

Fish, fish and more fish. Victoria can have boiled salmon, grilled salmon, salmon lox, and more.

Pretzel bread. What a concept! It’s even an option for sandwiches. Yum!

Remember Pippi Longstocking? Well, she is Pippi Longstrompe here and there are dolls, books, and a play for her. We also caught the old Pippi series on television. Go Pippi Longstrompe!!!

The Norwegians have a thing with Trolls. Still figuring it out, but there are Troll statues, dolls, cards, posters, and more all over the place. Will do some investigating on this and report back later.

Copenhagen, Denmark - July 29-August 4

(Bill – city versus countryside, my BBQ idol, and wine and a baguette on the dock)

We arrived in Copenhagen via another extremely cheap flight, this time on Sterling Airlines for $75 each, from Amsterdam. Copenhagen is much different than I expected. It is a busy, thriving city, which I had expected; however, the architecture is much less impressive and plain compared to the modern glassy architecture built amidst old stone architecture type city I had anticipated. It is much more expensive than other parts of Europe. For example, a “normal’ dinner for two with two drinks cost between $80 and $100. If you go “fancy” you can easily double that. McDonald’s Big Mac meal, or menu as they call them, will cost you $10 – not that I would know from experience. The weather is still on the chilly and gloomy side with highs in the mid-60’s and rain off and on, but I prefer this to the 100 degrees plus we would have encountered if we had stayed south for July/August. One interesting thing that we found in Copenhagen is that the Danish eat dinner much earlier than other cities we have traveled through in Europe. On our first night we almost didn’t get to eat because we were looking for a restaurant after 9:30pm. The city is very much a walking city with people of all ages walking through the self proclaimed “longest pedestrian mall in the world”. I’m pretty sure Amsterdam claimed the same thing. Funny!

On our second full day in Denmark we took an hour train ride to the top of Zealand, the island on which Copenhagen is located, to visit a few castles and seaside towns. Once we got 5 minutes outside of the city center the terrain changed completely. The countryside of Denmark is extremely beautiful. Flat, green, and lush, dotted with quaint family farms and quiet seaside towns. My favorite was the seaside town of Helsingor. Besides the beautiful castle (apparently the setting for Hamlet) that overlooks the North Sea, Victoria and I found an amazing outdoor restaurant that overlooks the harbor and castle. Small with a modern décor and no more than 10 tables, the kitchen, which consisted of a wood burning grill/barbecue, was located outside with the tables. One head chef (who I surmised was the owner and is truly my “BBQ idol”) and one assistant chef prepared all of the meals. Although it was a bit out of our price range, once I saw and smelled the chicken kabobs, local salmon, and fresh vegetables on the grill there was no stopping us. Needless to say we enjoyed dinner and a few glasses of wine/beer, which gave us a little taste of home, and it will always be a memorable experience.

On our third full day in Copenhagen we did a little self-made (read – random wandering), self-guided walking tour of the city and found Nyhaven. Nyhaven is a restored area of Copenhagen on the canal with docks lined with old sailing boats and a number of outdoor cafes. When we arrived it was “happy hour somewhere” so we found a shop and bought a bottle of wine, shocking I know, and a baguette and enjoyed them on the dock next to the cafes underneath the sunset. Another memorable experience.


(Victoria: Family Reunion, Iced Coffees, Bog People and Bill’s Hidden Talents)

The second we stepped off the plane I felt something funny…a connection…a familiarity. Bill will laugh at me for saying this, but I felt as if I were in the middle of a massive family reunion. It was as if I were seeing Elizabeth and William doubles around every corner. Blondes – and not the California golden blondes – snow blondes – were everywhere. Tall and tanned, slim and muscular, casual and hip fashion, and good teeth – okay, so these don’t all apply, those of you laughing about the tall part can stop now…Anyway, it was strange to see so many babies that looked as if they could be my niece or nephew. It made me miss Elizabeth and William even more. And there were lots of babies. Supposedly Scandinavia has a decreasing native population – not in Copenhagen! I saw pregnant women and new moms in abundance. They push the most massive prams I’ve ever seen. They were like moving beds! These were definitely for strolling purposes because there is no way they would fit in a car. Some had a baby and an older sibling in them and there was still room enough for shopping bags. We heard very few sad babies though, so maybe there is some wisdom in the size.

On the first evening there I immediately spotted the Starbucks imitator, Barresto, and conveniently made sure to pass it the following morning. Oh, the comfort of ice blended coffee. I love it. Luckily we could get free internet there and so spent an afternoon planning Norway and sipping “Iced Blends” – even Bill had them – yes, Bill Clinton (his photo was on the wall).

One of my favorite days was spent at the National Museum in Copenhagen. They had an amazing collection of artifacts from early nomads to the Vikings to early Christians. They had large boulders with runic inscriptions, early Bronze helmets and swords, and then we got to the Bog people. Yes, real people preserved in the Danish bogs. It was truly unbelievable. One lady even had her hair – reddish blonde. Their clothing was still intact; their features could be made out. And they dated from 1000 to 2000 B.C.!!!

I really liked Denmark. The countryside in Zealand was beautiful. Frederiksborg Castle was so neat. It was really well preserved and we got to go in all the nooks and crannies. It was what I think most people expect of a castle – winding stairs, long halls, dark corners, a moat, and turrets. I was less impressed with the “Hamlet” castle as it had been used as a military base from the 1750s to 1920s and was not put back to its Renaissance splendor. However, the town was darling and could see Sweden just across the water. We also went on a longer train to Funen, “the garden island,” to the town of Odense, the birth-place of Hans Christian Anderson. We went to an open-air museum and I encountered the most enormous pig/hog/whatever it was I’ve ever seen. Now I am fully aware that I am no farm expert, but this was a record holder. I’m talking State Fair Champion. It could feed all of Los Angeles. I also learned that my husband is an excellent stilt-walker (always, a back-up career to remember).

Oddities or Things We Noticed

(Bill and Victoria)
Hans Christian Anderson is THE MAN in Denmark. He has so many streets, restaurants, and pubs named after him that it became a joke. They are also celebrating his move from Odense to Copenhagen, so every single museum has a “special” HCA exhibit.

Sunsets are starting to last longer. It stays light until around 9:30pm.

They use as much paprika in their cooking as the Strong/Tanzey family does. I love it!

They have an ingenious hot dog invention/creation. Instead of cutting the hot dog bun in half, they poke a hole vertically through the bun (but not all the way), and then they squirt whatever “dressing” wanted inside the hole, and shove the hot dog in. Now the hot dog is sticking out of the bun and each bite is ketchup covered without it falling out. No mess, no clean up. I enjoyed a few of these.

Open-air museums with period buildings, people dressed in period costumes, and farm animals are big in Scandinavia. They are neat, but there are an awful lot of them.

We went to a live Blue’s bar one evening and had a hilarious experience – maybe it was the many pints??? Aside from meeting an eccentric American living in Southeast Asia and a former Swedish Ambassador, who apparently met each other in Bosnia, the local Blue’s singers sounded as if they stepped off the plane from Mississippi. But when they spoke in between songs they had extremely thick Danish accents. Showbiz.

There seems to be some sort of traveling American Indian band following us on our journey. We’ve seen them in Amsterdam, Belgium, and now Denmark. They have elaborate head dresses and dance around to drums and synthesized, yes synthesized, other instruments. Very random.